


End of an era

by Beta_09



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Airbending & Airbenders, Avatar Cycle, Avatar State, Avatar: The Last Airbender References, Bending (Avatar), Earth Kingdom (Avatar), Earthbending & Earthbenders, Fire Nation (Avatar), Fire Nation Royal Family, Firebending & Firebenders, Inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender, Northern Water Tribe, Plot, Republic City, Some Humor, Southern Water Tribe, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Water Tribe(s) (Avatar), Waterbending & Waterbenders, Western Air Temple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-05 20:39:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16818055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beta_09/pseuds/Beta_09
Summary: The Avatar once again reincarnates, this time it's within the fire nation. After 22 years of not finding the Avatar the new fire lord gets crowned, a girl starts her journey and multiple groups make their move to gain power.The biggest illusion is that of separation.So is it al connected?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and thank you for choosing to read my first ever fic if you have any comments or criticism I would love to hear it.
> 
> Enjoy!

There once was a world where there were people who could control and bend the four elements, air, water, earth and fire, to their will.  
Alongside others who did not possess this gift the so called 'benders' grew, they later learned to bend metal and lava.  
The also discovered the ability to bend spirit energy, but only the Avatar master of all four elements and the bridge between our world and that of the spirits was the one to completely master it. 

The Avatar was to bring balance to the world if need be.  
This does not mean that balance was always present. 

Wars and conflicts have scarred this world and will continue to do so, it is in humanity's nature.

But not al of humanity's instincts are wrong, there have been great heroes and rulers who helped save the world many times, the Avatar usually being one of them. 

There was the Avatar who found Republic city, he had defeated the Fire lord Ozai who had gone mad with power ready to burn down all of the earth kingdom.  
The Avatar had stopped him in his plans and an era of peace began.

But it was not to last long, conflict between benders and non-benders begane to occur and the new Avatar needed to rise up. She dealt with a great deal of conflicts in her time, bender vs non-bender, humanity vs spirits, unity vs freedom.  
In the end she had triumphed above all and balance continued. 

After some time the Avatar was born or should I say Avatars, a pair of brothers, twins to be exact.  
They were born into the world and were expected to become above all spiritual leaders. It seemed all was well with the world until the spirits had enough, humans had started to live in their world and had polluted it with their machines.  
Humanity had started to harvest the spirit vines to create an alternate energy source for their own military and domestic use.  
After blood was shed on both sides the Avatars decided to close the portals and once again separate men and spirit. 

Some commended them for it others told them they had destroyed balance but they stood by their decision. 

And so the cycle will continue, wars will be fought, blood will be shed, peace will be but temporary and the Avatar will be born once again. 

______________________________________________________

"Wake up!" the curtains were drawn open and sunlight flooded the young Fire lords room. "Hmmmm..... Five minutes more." hummed Azim, brand new ruler of the fire nation, as his mother, lady Mira, pulled the bedsheets off of him.  
"is this how the ruler of our people, our grand nation is going to act all the time? Like a whining child?" she asked her son who now bolted out of bed and started to walk to his mirror. "O Spirits, it really wasn't a dream was it." it was more a statement than a question. The young man looked over at a drawer next to his mirror seeing the traditional hairpiece worn by fire lords for generations sitting on a velvet cushion.  
He took it in his hand," It's all real. " he sighed, a bit disappointed.  
His mother noticed, she put a hand on his shoulder and put him in front of the mirror again, she took the hairpiece from his hand and started to do his hair up, just like when he was a child. 

"I can assure you it's all very real, you should feel proud, I know I am." she smiled a bit, and then continued. "I almost forgot to tell you, your father arranged everything for your diplomatic trip to Republic city and Ba Sing Se, you should have seen him worrying about which guards he should send with you to make sure you are safe, it was really quite adorable." the only response she got from her son was a small hum.  
Mira looked in the mirror only to see a sad look in her son's eyes, she finished his hair by putting the hairpiece in places and lowered herself in front of her son taking his hands in hers.  
"What's wrong sweetie? Are you nervous? Or scared? There's no need for that, I know it's scary bu-" he cut her off. 

"Do you think she would have made a better ruler than me ?" 

Azim didn't look at his mother but at his own reflection, there was something bitter in the way he had said it.  
Mira looked at her son, he had grown much but he still needed to grow some more, tears came to her eyes.  
'if only she had gotten the chance to grow up'  
Her son looked at her, tears now threatening to fall from his eyes too.  
They looked at each other and laughed. How sad they were. They hugged each other and with a shaky voice Mira spoke the words that would keep her son going through hard times. "She would be proud to call you her brother." 

______________________________________________________

10 years earlier.

If you were every to visit Republic city you would probably have heard of a shop, located somewhere, stuck between the shopping district and industrial grounds close to the harbor.  
You would have heard of the shop's owners, a grounded old man by the name of Zhang and his caring companion Xin. Now the rumors are that Zhang and Xin are benders although nobody has ever seen them bend, others say they made a deal with a spirit, to get it to work for them and only a few say they let other people make the goods for them. 

Whatever the case, they sure we're a pair of brilliant craftsmen and it was certainly to no one's surprise when they took on an apprentice.  
What was a surprise was that it wasn't a talent crafter who had already made a name for himself, instead it was a child, no more than 12 years old, a sad looking girl with dull black hair and pale skin, hands that didn't have the callus of a craftsman.  
Nobody knew why Zhang and Xin decided to teach her but then again nobody had seen what Zhang and Xin had seen. 

\-----

It was early in the morning and Zhang was making the shop ready for the day when he heard knocking on the front door of his shop. He thought it was just a customer checking to see if they were already open, he went and opened the door to tell them to come back a bit later but was surprised to find a young girl on his doorstep. He was even more surprised when she asked if she could work here, he didn't know how to respond and instead let the girl inside.  
She hesitated, the older man noticed, it looked as if she almost forced herself to go in.  
Once in he took the lead and guided their way through the shop to his and Xin's residence above the shop. 

When they arrived in the kitchen Zhang sat the girl down at their dinner table and told her he was going to get Xin and set a pot of tea, he noticed only now that the girl was clutching an improvised backpack to her chest, only now did it start to dawn on him how strange the situation really was.  
A girl no older than 13 he assumed, stood at his front door at the crack of dawn without parents or any sort of supervision.  
He was quick in getting Xin out of bed once he told her who it was that sat at their dinner table. 

Xin told him to make the tea and that she would go and great the girl herself.  
So he did. 

When Xin entered the kitchen and saw the girl sitting at her table she immediately noticed how sad and tense the girl looked, her eyes had bags under them and were bloodshot, clearly she was sleep deprived. Yet she was on high alert, she seemed ready to bolt out of there this very second, she jumped when Xin sat down across from her looking as if she was in some kind of trouble. 

Xin was unsure of what to ask but settled on asking where her parents were. 

"I don't....have...don't have any." the girl responded.  
She was lying, Xin saw it in the way she looked at anything in the room but her.  
"Sooooo...you're an orphan?"  
A long pause settled over them.  
"Yes." a lie. 

"And you want to work here? Why?" 

The girl hesitated, "Because..I've got.. got nowhere else..to...else to go." 

Xin knew that this was not going to work, she wouldn't get anything out of this kid by just asking random questions. 

"Okay but you could have gone to any other business in the city, why come here?" 

Xin noticed the look in the eyes of the girl change and when she spoke she sounded almost confident. 

"Because people talk about you, they know who you are and they told me that you keep secrets, that's why." 

Secrets, Xin thought. A smile creeped over her face, so she was trying to escape something or someone and she was smart enough to come here.  
Xin started to like the girl. 

"Okay, so let's pretend that I think about taking you in, what do you have to offer?"

The girl thought for a while, "Nothing of importance, nothing but a helping hand around the shop and in doing chores, all I ask is for a place to sleep and some food." 

Xin snickers, "That's a lot to ask for, and you didn't even say please!" the girl shrank back, there were tears in her eyes and look that said 'I messed up'.  
Instantly Xin regretted her remark.  
She truly did feel bad for the girl, and if it weren't for Zhang she would say yes to her....... 'but screw Zhang.' she thought, he wasn't going to stop her once she decided. 

"what's your name?" 

The kid looked surprised. "Linh." she muttered. 

"Wel then Linh, it seems that from this short conversation I've begun to like you, so what do you say?" she offered her hand to Linh. "Want to come and work for us?" 

The girl didn't know how fast to take her hand. 

"thank you." 

"No problem Linh." 

Zhang came in with the tea and smiled at Xin, she had done what he had hoped she'd do.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How is the Avatar doing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

Years passed and Linh grew up under the watchful eyes of Xin and Zhang.  
It certainly wasn't easy for the three of them, the older couple didn't know how to raise a child and Linh knew nothing of being a craftsman but they eventually learned and grew closer.

At first Linh was somewhat distant and jumped at any sound and gesture that was unfamiliar to her, it was like she, before coming to them, had lived in another world and didn't know how to behave herself in front of other people, this was not to say she wasn't polite or didn't try to be so.  
On the other hand you had Zhang who was ruff and tuff, sometimes a little bit too much.  
He didn't know how to properly train an apprentice let alone raise a child. Xin was a lot like him more actions than words, your work was what defined you.  
Both learned soon enough that there was more to it than that. 

Linh in many ways became more of a mystery to them the longer they knew her. She was capable to do most things independently from the start but other more natural things like making conversation with customers or even tying back her hair were things that took a bit longer.  
She could read and write and even do math, but she spoke in simple and short sentences.  
There was an elegance in her movements if she was comfortable enough but over time these disappeared as she worked more with Zhang and Xin. 

This girl of which they knew nothing had become a lot like the both of them, but there was this permanent edge to her, a memory that she didn't let go of. No matter how much Xin and Zhang had come to love her over the years, they felt as if she still shut them out. When she was alone in her room, thinking the two of them were asleep she would cry, they could hear her sobs through the walls of their small home.  
When Linh grew older she started to explore Republic city, first hesitant, later with great joy. Her favorite place became the Republic city public library, build in honor of one of the founders of Republic city, Sokka of the Southern water tribe, she would later tell Zhang and Xin.  
Linh would often go there when she didn't need to work or do chores, rarely would she bring any books home or buy them, no matter how much they told her to go for it. She would go off with a little notebook and pen in hand and come back hours later with not a book insight, after one of those days she would speed off to her room and lock herself up for even more time, Xin and Zhang didn't ask what she was doing there all the time, if she was ready she would tell them they thought. 

When working in the shop, Linh managed the front of the shop in the beginning of her apprenticeship, so Zhang and Xin could double productivity and work together in the back.  
When Linh had asked them to take her on as an apprentice she didn't really know, nor did she care, what exactly Xin and Zhang's job was.  
Turns out they were glassblowers.  
The first time Linh saw them working she thought that they really were benders, the way they made all sorts of shapes and sizes was baffling to her. How they could predict or rather forsee their design and let it take shape was extraordinary.

Linh knew she had come to the right place.

_________________________________________________

Present. 

"It seems like the fresh new Fire lord Azim has been falling in good graces with the leaders of Republic city, hopefully the people will be smitten with him too, tune in tomorrow to hear our recording and review of his first public speech, we wish you a lovely day here from the Future Industry's studio, I'm your host Kei-lo and we will see you soon. "

Linh stood frozen by the sink a plate still in her hand, the radio was back to playing commercials, it was as if the world didn't make sense anymore.  
'Azim...Fire lord......not yet, he couldn't be.... Why haven't I heard of it before, was I too caught up in work or didn't they broadcast it, but he's supposed to only be 20 years old or was it 19, o Spirits have I forgotten his age! How could I! I thought I had enough time! All this for noth- Wait if Azim is the fire lord now than did something happen to fath-'  
Her wild train of thought was interrupted by Zhang calling her name, "Linh, Linh! Do you know where the flowers are, I could have sworn I put them on the table."

Linh looked at her mentor, 'Flowers? What-'  
"you're already holding them Zhang." she pointed out, Zhang looked perplexed at his hands he was indeed holding the flowers. His mental state had declined a lot over the years, he had stopped working in the shop about 2 years ago, his hands had been severely burned when he had forgotten to put on his working gloves while dealing with molten glas.

He laughed at himself and then sighed, "Alright, guess that's it I'm good to go, are you ready too?" he asked Linh who felt herself stare at the man who could laugh his sadness away. She looked back at the plate she was holding and the dirty dishes in the sink. "Yeah, I'm ready." she spoke.

The two of them walked down stairs, Linh helping the almost elderly man with carrying his bags down. When they arrived at the front part of the shop they were greeted by a muscular young man by the name of Kyran. He started to work in the shop only 3 years after Linh had joined Xin and Zhang, the two kids worked side by side in the store for the rest of their time there, At the end of every day Kyran would go home to his family who lived in just outside of Republic city. 

"Good morning, I see you're both ready to go out."  
He said to them, Linh smiled somewhat, he always sounded very chipper to her, it made her smile.  
"Are you sure your family is okay with this? I mean we wouldn't want to inconvenience them." Linh asked him. 

"It's fine, no worries." he replied, "Mom would love to have you two, and Sia and Cal are very excited to have more people to play with." He took the bags from Zhang and started to make his way to the front door where he parked his car. Linh told Zhang she was going to finish the dishes and take her bags downstairs, in reality she wanted to be alone and think. She made her way to the kitchen again and quickly did the dishes, then proceeded to go to her room. It had been her safe haven for almost 10 years, it was the place she had come to the realization that she wouldn't let her sadness defeat her and started planning, planning for the day she would take her revenge and let the world know the Avatar still existed. She went over to her bed and reached under it pulling out a dusty, make shift backpack. She untied it checking if the content was still in order. A dagger, photograph, little notebook and matching pen, a book and a golden hairpin shaped like a flame, was al that was left of her former self. She tied it again, putting it with her other bag in the room, she looked around the little space she had started to see as home. She looked at the desk in front of the few windows in the house, she had spent many hours there trying to come up with a plan to make sure she learned all four elements as quick as possible and go unnoticed by everyone, making sure she was the Avatar the world wanted and revealing herself only when she had become so. That brought her thoughts back to Azim, in all her years away from home not a day went by when she didn't think of her brother and parents, about how her life would have looked had she not been taken from them. She would get her revenge, no, her justice. She took her bags and walked downstairs, right out the door, she put her stuff in the back of Kyran's car and took her place in the front passenger seat. "Then this is it I guess." Kyran said with a sad tone in his voice as he looked at the shop from his car window. Linh also put her gaze on the building one last time and shifted it to Zhang who sat in the back seat. He was looking at the place too, his eyes were glazed over, misty, as if recalling all of his memories and getting lost in them. He was shaken out of his trance by Linh asking him, "You know we can stay right?" he looked at her with an almost content look in his eyes, she continued "You don't have to leave this place behind, we can keep on living here just like we're doing now, give the word and we won't leave." Linh didn't know what she was saying, she had her chance to finally go and exact her revenge, take her rightfull place in the world, why didn't she let go and leave why did she want Zhang to say that he wanted to stay. " Nah, the place is old and torn like me." his eyes were soft and caring, "I think it's time to let it rest." Linh turned her head forward and sat back in the car seat, she felt a few tears stain her face and a hand on her shoulder, Kyran tried to be of some support to her even when he didn't know what to say. He started the car and they drove off, away from the hectic city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, for reading al this if you have any feedback or criticism than please comment,  
> Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adventure awaits!

Before arriving at Kyran's house they stopped at the side of the road.  
When they all existed the car they looked to their left to see a stone monument resembling a curved wall.  
They walked the path leading to it, when they were almost in front of it both Linh and Kyran stopped, giving Zhang some alone time in front of the stone wall.

From where they stood, Linh and Kyran could see the many photographs and small paintings of many different people, all of whom had died in this spot, Xin's photo was among them.

It happend 2 years ago, when rumors spread about Fire lord Kaze wanting to choose a successor to his throne, both people in and outside the fire nation wanted to put general Buzai, one of the advisors of the fire lord on the throne.  
The people found prince Azim too young to rule and someone more experienced and mature should take the lead.  
There was also a big part of the people standing up to speak about changing the nation's political system and instead of choosing a new fire lord, they should make a democracy and build up a council to rule the fire nation.  
Protests began and it didn't take long before it got violent, one of those rallies happend in Republic city or rather just outside of city borders. Xin had been there purely by accident, she was walking from Kyran's house back to the shop, which was a common occurrence then.  
She had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, this got violent and people started bending and using other weapons. 

Almost 20 people died that day, Xin being one of them, it was after that and Zhang's accident that he had decided to stop working and retire. Both Kyran and Linh knew that they were not good enough craftsman to run the shop on their own, so they decided to sell the place later this year.  
Kyran's mother, Deia, had offered them them a place to stay and they had accepted. 

Even though Linh had accepted she did have other plans for herself in store, the only reason she accepted it was because it might have made it easier on Zhang to leave the place behind.

-

Linh approached Zhang in front of the monument, she knelt beside him and looked at Xin's picture.  
She remembered the days Xin would teach her about water tribe culture and tell her long lost stories and legends, she remembered those stormy blue eyes and graying hairs and proud voice.  
She helped Zhang to get to his feet and they were on their way again within minutes. 

They were warmly welcomed by Deia and her two youngest children. Zhang felt at peace in the house but not at home.  
He knew he would live here until he would take his final breath, he didn't particularly mind this but it felt a bit weird to him. He would have imagined that he'd work himself to death at some point, once Xin had told him the same thing. 

Linh felt a strange sort of bitterness when she was around Kyran's family, she looked at them and could see that they were happy or at least content with their lives, Linh didn't share this feeling.  
Maybe it was because she, in her early years of life, was raised in a luxurious and rich surrounding or that she knew that it was not her place to live a life as normal as she wanted.  
Did she even want a normal life to begin with?  
No.  
Then what did she want?  
.....for things to be simple and clean...easy to understand and work out.

That was not to be.

_____________________

Kyran knew Linh wouldn't stay, he had seen the look in her eyes, a blank look, as if she tried not to be completely present.  
It was only late at night when he had stayed up that he could hear her and Zhang's bedroom door softly open, that he realized that she was truly leaving.

She was to focused on searching the kitchen cabinets that Linh didn't notice Kyran standing in the doorway.  
She almost had a heart attack when she did. 

"What are you doing out of bed at this hour!?" she hissed quietly.

"I could ask you the same thing, Linh." he retorted, pointing at her backpack filled with necessary products. "You were leaving weren't you?" 

She averted her gaze from his, she didn't want to tell him. Linh continued taking things from the cabinets and packing her bag with it, feeling a lot worse in the process. 

Kyran huffed, irritated, he threw his hands up in defeat.  
"That's fine don't tell me, but at least answer me this, can I come with you?"

Linh was shocked to say the least, her mind raced, she couldn't let him come with her, too risky, he was too dear to her. She looked at him as Kyran walked over to a small closet pulling out a backpack of his own and filling it with stuff.  
He looked at her again, she looked at him. 

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you're my friend and I don't want you getting yourself in trouble on your own." he paused.  
"And maybe because I also feel a need to leave."

"Leave?" another voice interrupted, Zhang stood in the kitchen doorway, the old man looking straight at Linh a severe look in his eyes.

Linh just stared back not able to utter a word, this is what she had wanted to avoid by leaving now, confrontation. 

Zhang looked from Linh to Kyran, "You're going with her?"

Kyran nodded slowly. 

"Then you should go and get a spare change of clothes." Zhang said with a nod, he approved.

Kyran did, when he arrived in his bedroom he also wrote a note to his mother and siblings. When he wanted to walk downstairs again he saw his mother standing in the hallway, she must have heard them.  
Deia knew her son well, when she had heard one of her new residents walking downstairs she could have guessed what was going on when two other pairs of feet followed. She hugged her eldest child tightly before planting a kiss on his forehead and walking him downstairs. 

____

When Kyran left it was just Linh and Zhang in the kitchen, Linh felt there was a tension between them.  
Only when Zhang spoke did that tension fade a bit. 

"I'm not mad at you so stop lookin' so afraid girl."

Linh let out a breath she didn't know she held, "I-I wanted to tell bu-..."

"Save your excuses you weren't going to tell me, you know that as well as me." they looked at each other, he could feel her guilt and regret and see it in her eyes, she could feel his sad acceptance. 

Linh frantically took out her black notebook from her bag and gave it to him.  
She wanted him to know and understand why even if it could harm him.  
She opened it for him and showed him, what she had been working on, her research.  
But he was disinterested, dismissing it.  
"I know why you're leaving, maybe not exactly but what I'm trying to say is that I always knew you weren't just a girl we picked off from the street."

Zhang looked at his apprentice, "We both noticed how everything reacted to you and how you reacted to everything."

Zhang looked at her with kinder eyes, "There is no need to explain."

Linh spoke, her voice hoarse, "I owe you, you both, so much, I'm sorry I haven't been able to give something in return."

Zhang hugged the girl tightly, tears pricking in his eyes, he too spoke with a hoarse voice, "You have given us enough."

=_=_=

Later that same night Deia and Zhang looked on as they saw their children disappearing out of sight, but not out of mind. 

====================

At Republic city harbor Kyran bought two one way tickets to the Eastern air temple, when he was done with paying for him and Linh the two of them boarded the ship.  
When it was announced that they'll be leaving soon, Linh asked. 

"Are you sure about coming with me? I mean I can do this on my own."

Kyran looked at her with a smug expression, "You've asked that ten times already and I'm still here aren't I."

"I'm not going to get rid of you, huh?"

"Not for a very long time."

A small smile graced her face as she watched Republic city dissappear from view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought of this chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems the new fire lord is having some troubles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please give you thoughts on this chapter

Lord Azim took his first steps on Republic city grounds the next morning, interviewers and photographers swarmed around him only held back by his personal security team.  
It had been a long journey for him even though it only took him a day to get to the city by airship, he hadn't slept the entire time, he had been to anxious, stressed.  
His pale face now greyish, his golden eyes a more light brown. 

Still, he came out of the aircraft with the elegance and pride of a king, ignoring the press who were screaming in his face like he was thaught to do.

\----------  
Later

Azim stepped into the office of the Republic city mayor, an intelligent man by the name of Key-Sook Rei.  
He was almost ten years older then Azim but could pass for a forty year old man with the mustache he had.  
The mayor and fire lord shook hands and a photo was made to prove it to the public, once the formalities were over and all outsiders left the room the real talk began. 

Rei took place behind his desk, Azim sat across from him, his assistant and advisor Shera Leai stood duty fully next to the young lord. 

"It seems you have caused quite the uproar back in the fire nation." Rei began, he eyed Azim with a judgemental look. "and I would like you to keep it there." he proceeded sharply. 

Azim's eyes twitched,  
'this man probably takes me for a young fool.', he thought. 

Azim responded, a cold tone in his voice, "the fire nation will deal with their own problems and will bring no harm to the other nations." 

"Spoken like a true king it seems, I know that the fire nation will not make anymore 'slip ups'." Rei noticed how the look in Azim's eyes changed, he saw the boy that stared back at him, scared to be scolded.  
Rei continued, the young fire nation ruler needed to hear this.  
"After the great war you guys tried to stay out of conflict, but by doing so you also left the other nations to fend for themselves and when the spirit wars happened, only after the portals were closed did you finally offer to help." Rei leaned over his desk to look Azim right in the eye. 

" You did too little too late."

Azim sat frozen, he knew that mayor Rei was right, he was also not too naive to think that he could make it all right in his lifetime.  
But he had to try. 

"Spoken like a true historian it seems, we made our mistakes as a nation, as rulers.  
What's done is done, I can't change that anymore, what I can do is offer my help now, if there is ever a need for it I will offer you all the resources that are within my grasp."

Rei leaned back in his chair, a small smile on his face.  
'seems like the kid learned something.' 

"Alright then, if you want to keep your promise then there is something you can help me with."

Azim's attention was caught. 

Rei continued, "Have you heard of the pests running around the earth kingdom calling themselves the Avatar's disciples, apparently they have spread to the northern water tribe.  
They attack high placed individuals and sabotage constructions, meetings, research in the name of maintaining balance."

Azim's attention was caught. 

Azim had already heard of them a long time ago, apparently they had become a much bigger threat since then.  
"What do you want me to do about them?"

Rei had a serious expression on his face, he stood up from his chair and walked to the big glass windows of his office behind it and stared out of them. 

"These so called 'disciples' are interfering with innovation, their goal is to maintain balance but what they extually do is prevent change."

"But change is inevitable, right?"

Rei turned around, "Tell that to the people willing to follow them because they are scared to be abused by the people in charge. "

"I understand, but how do we stop them if the people believe that through these 'diciples' they are keeping their so called balance? If we hunt them down the people will know and rise up against authorities."

Rei sat down at his desk once more, "It's not a matter of 'we', but you."

Azim's demeanor changed again, a fire began to awaken, he leaned towards Rei's desk, "If you suggest that I willingly make my nation the hot topic of debate once again you are wrong, I said I would help bu--"

Rei cut him off quickly, "My dear friend don't get me wrong, I know that you won't take action or at least not publicly."

Azim froze, "What would you be referring to if I may ask?"

Rei got a cold look in his dark green eyes, "You know very well what I'm on about, they may not be here currently but I know they are listening from somewhere, your special forces that is."

Azim sat in his chair dumbfounded, how could Rei have know about the secret forces that trained in the underground bunkers of the fire nation capital since his grandfather's time.  
They had been tasked with keeping the royal family safe from all harm, if their personal guard were to fail, and doing some dirty work in the past.

"How did yo-"

"That's not important, what is important is that I know and that I want to use them and that if you refuse I will tell the world all about it"

"What makes you so sure that you are alive in time to tel-"

"I recorded this meeting, it's being recorded this very second." Rei was sitting in his chair relaxed feeling like the smartest person in the room.

Azim sat there in feigned defeat, he looked at Rei that way too, the person in question being to proud of himself to notice.  
"What do you want with them?"

Rei felt like he had won, "I want you to let them investigate or infiltrate the disciples and find out how they work and who they work for."

Azim's eyebrow shot up, "You don't want me to take them out?"

"No, at least not yet, once we know what they are up to and who they are, we can decide then if we want dispose of them quietly or make more of a show of it."

Azim sat there, he gave a nod to Shera who wrote something down and gave a hand signal towards the large window behind Rei's desk. 

Rei smiled a bit of a sinister smile, "So you're in I presume?"

Azim's eyes going back to Rei's, gold clashing with emerald. 

"It doesn't seem like I have a choice."

__________

It was late in the afternoon when the fire lord stood up from his chair to exit the mayor's office. 

When he had almost made his way to the door Rei had spoken up one last time. 

"You know, I always did wonder if the White Lotus ever found the Avatar, I mean they should have been born in the fire nation this time but sadly twenty-two years have past and still no sign of them, very odd don't you think?" 

Azim looked back at Rei, "If you're suggesting I'm withholding the Avatar from the world you sorely mistak-" 

"Oh Spirits no!" the older man interrupted, "I didn't mean any disrespect it's just that.... Well, didn't you used to have a sister?"  
The young lord felt his clenched fists heat up.  
Rei continued, "She disappeared, presumed dead, right? How long ago was that again, 10 or so years ago right?"  
Rei knew he was on thin ice but he had to see the fresh prince's reaction.  
"I just found it very odd that they never found her body, don't you" 

Azim turned around and simply said, "Very odd indeed."  
He exited the mayor's office followed by his antourage, Shera walking beside him a hand on his shoulder silently calming him down and succeeding. 

_________________________

When the young fire lord had left the office together with his entourage, both seen and unseen, Rei sat alone in his chair staring at his desk. 

It seemed the new fire lord had a lot of skill but also a lot to learn.  
Rei might not have been given all the information there was to aquire in their little chat, but he had enough for now.


	5. Chapter 5

Aboard an airship heading to the Eastern airtemple Linh and Kyran were on the main deck looking out at the scenery, they were a day away from setting foot on air Nation land.

It was night and almost every other passenger who couldn't afford first class seats were sleeping accept for them.  
They had entertained themselves with recounting happy memories from the times spend with Xin and Zhang and stories from Kyran of his family. 

"And then Cal came in with this puppy polarbear dog he 'just so happend to find' not to far from the docks. You should have seen my mother's face - HAHA!"  
They both laughed, until they were reminded by an elderly lady with a baby that it was "to damn late" to laugh as hard as they had. 

They quieted down and both fell silent for a bit until Linh asked Kyran a question she wanted to ask for a while now. 

"Why did you decide to come with me?"

"I already told yo-" he started.

"That's not what I mean, you're not just here because you want to look out for me. You know just as well as I that I can take care of myself." she huffed and looked at him, he was looking out the window a wistful smile on his face. "So why are you here Kyran."

He sighed a bit, thinking about his answer.  
He looked back at her, "You know that feeling you get when you're doing something and you suddenly realize that you could drop everything and just go off on an adventure, just leave everything behind and start anew."  
He looked outside again, "I always had the responsibility to take care of my family, even though my mom didn't want to pressure me, alot was put on my shoulders to begin with. When you decided to leave and I saw you there standing in the kitchen ready to leave everything behind I knew it was my shot, my shot at starting over and starting to do things for myself. "

Linh looked at him in a different light that night, at first glance he had seemed a hard working, proud person ready to do anything and everything for the sake of keeping his family going, now she saw the other part of him, a part that was selfish and wanted to just be him and be free of his responsibilities if even for a minute.  
She respected him for it, for choosing to be selfish for once, of course leaving you family behind was hard for him but Linh could see the relaxation in his eyes when he looked at the starry sky they were flying through.  
Satisfied with his anwser she replied the only thing she thought appropriate. 

"I can imagine that." 

\------

A long but comfortable silence filled the air between them. Until Kyran spoke up. 

"What about you, why did you decide to leave?" 

Linh knew that question was coming up sooner or later.  
She looked around her at the sleeping people, some of them could be listening in on them. She had been taught as a small child to be careful with what you say and who you say it to. She still held on to that when it came to her own secrets.  
But Kyran did deserve a proper explanation, she sighed and looked him in the eyes and leaned a bit closer to him. 

"look, right now the exact details of why I decided to leave are not safe to share with this many people within hearing distance, what I can say is that....*sigh*.... I had a certain goal in mind and that goal is something I need to accomplish fast or else there will be dire consequences for some people and I just need to figure out something before it all goes to shi-" a hand landed on her shoulder stopping her rambling.  
She looked at Kyran his kind eyes calming her. 

" It's okay, even though I don't understand it yet, when you're ready to tell me I'll be here, okay?" 

Linh nodded. 

" Now breathe. " he added and Linh let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. 

Kyran snickered a bit, "Okay so you can't tell me why we're on this adventure yet, so can you at least tell me why we're going to the eastern airtemple?" 

Linh nodded again and took an old book from her backpack, opening it to reveal a world map on two of it's pages, multiple routes were made on the map and Linh pointed at one leading, first, to the eastern airtemple.  
" We'll be staying there for about 4 months. After that we or at least I will hopefully have learned how to airbend." 

She looked at Kyran seeing him processing this new information.  
He slowly looked at her, "So... you're an Airbender?" he questioned. 

She was whispering when she said, "Well, kind of. I mean what did you think I was?" 

Even though they worked together in Xin and Zhang's shop for more than 5 years Kyran still didn't know about Linh's past, he assumed, at some point she was a firebender but he had never seen her bend anything so he went with non bender after a few months of meeting Linh.

"Uhmm a firebender for sure, because you do look like one, like the black hair an yellow-ish eyes and everything uuhmmmm not that I'm assuming you are, I'm mean you could be a waterbender for all I care it's just I-I." 

"That too." 

He was confused now. 

"I'm sorry what now?" 

"That too." she looked at him as if she were embarrassed. 

It started to sink in. "What do you mean 'that too' that's impossible unle-" and it clicked in Kyran's head. 

Had it not been for Linh's had on his mouth, Kyran would have waken the whole ship up with his cry of surprise.

She made a mental note to wait with telling him about her actual family. 

Kyran looked at her with surprise and shock in his eyes but swiftly it turned into excitement and a child like joy when Linh removed her hand from his mouth. 

Linh was the first to speak, "Sooooo, that's part of why I left Republic city. I need to learn how to bend and fast too." she became serious.

"Look, Kyran, I know I asked you before but are you really sure you want to come along with me? I mean there will be people after us once they know who I am. I don't want you to be involved in that."

Kyran's expression didn't change, only determination was added and his demeanor was brimming with it.  
" You already know the answer, I'm not going anywhere. This may get dangerous but if we make it than I'll have more stories to tell my brother and sister."

Linh let out a sigh of relief, she had already started to get accustomed to his support and didn't want to lose that. She relaxed as Kyran spoke. 

" and besides our adventure will go down in history and I want to be a part of it. " he was grinning from ear to ear.  
Linh smiled, he was having way to much fun with this and she was thankfull for it, she needed some positive attitude . 

"Thank you."

"No problem." he was silent for awhile before speaking again. "Do you think we should have like a team name or something???"

That made her laugh a little.


	6. Chapter 6

It was late in the morning when Linh and Kyran arrived at the Eastern airtemple, they made their way through security and borderpatrole and started to head to the main building of the structure. 

The inside of the hall they arrived in was swarming with people, Airbenders coming home and people living in the villages below were being welcomed by air nomads who helped them to settle down. 

One such air nomad came to help Linh and Kyran, a tall girl with dark brown hair and small grey eyes, a blue arrow could be seen on her forehead underneath her short bangs.  
She spoke with a calm voice, "Hello, welcome to the Eastern airtemple, my name is Iio, how can I help you?"

Kyran looked at Linh who spoke, "Hey, me and my friend here would like to become part of the airnomads." 

The girl named Iio looked a bit confused by Linh's words. 

"A part of the airnomads you say? Where are you from?" 

Kyran answered, "Republic city, we were born there but there never really was anyone to teach my friend here how to bend and no one to teach us about the culture, you see both of our parents sadly past away and we didn't have much in Republic so we thought why not come here and learn." 

Linh was surprised by how natural Kyran was at spinning a lie. 

Iio seemed to understand now," I see, come now, I'll bring you to see one of our administrators." she turned and started to walk to a set of stairs leading to a large room above the arrival hall. While walking Iio spoke " Well I'll just assume that you didn't apply to one of our classes. "

Linh and Kyran looked at each other, Linh spoke." No we didn't have the time to send out a message, we left in kind of a hurry."  
Iio didn't respond as they arrived at the administration. 

She turned around looking at them both, " As a master Airbender myself I will enroll you," pointing at Linh. "At one of my classes seeing as I'm teaching this year for the first time." she then pointed at Kyran. "I'll enroll you at one of my brothers classes, he gives lessons about our history and traditions." 

"Thank you so much, but how will we pay for these classes? we don't have much." Linh asked. 

"That's fine, the entrance fee isn't that much and as the daughter of one of the people on the council of elders I can pull some strings." she winked at the both of them and made her way to the other and of the room where multiple desks stood.  
Kyran and Linh looked at each other, that was truly unexpected, it seemed luck was on their side to have the daughter of one of the leaders of the airtemple help them. 

At the other end of the room Iio walked to a desk which had a small line of people infront of it, she walked to the table and talked to the person behind it, another airnomad, a guy not much older than Kyran, who resembled Iio a great deal. 

'That must be here brother.' Linh thought, her mind drifting to her own little brother, the new fire lord.  
She missed him and their parents a lot, it pained her. 

\------

Not a few minutes later Iio returned with some papers and her brother close behind her, someone else had taken over his duties at the desk. 

He welcomed them to the air temple and introduced himself as Ayato, Iio quickly interrupted him. 

"So here are your forms, just fill them in and I'll escort eehhh....." Iio looking at Linh her cheeks flushed a bit, she had totally forgotten to ask for their names. 

"Linh." 

"I'll escort Linh to her chambers, and my brother will bring..." 

"Kyran" 

"he'll bring Kyran to his." 

Kyran spoke up, "So you let women and men live apart from one another?"  
Ayato answered, "No not at all, but we do separate the airbenders from the non airbenders. A much as we want to live together in peace having windblowing rascals such as my sister next to studious students creates tension sometimes, but it's only for sleeping and airbending training that you will be separated you both will attend my classes for history and tradition and you will attend my sisters classes for meditation and spirituality. "

Linh could feel herself getting excited for it, Iio sensed it too. She got a strong spiritual feeling from this strange girl, she knew her brother did to even if he may not be as sensitive to these kind of things as she was.  
That was also the reason Iio went to help them when she passed through the main building, she had sensed this girl and thought it best to bring her to Ayato. 

He had taken out the forms and told her to enroll them, he had said to her that something didn't feel right about them, their story didn't sound completely true. 

After they said their temporary goodbyes, Iio brought Linh to the northern tower and Ayato brought Kyran to the southern tower.  
They let the new airnomads settle in their own chambers before giving them a tour of their respective towers and surrounding grounds. 

\---------

The dining hall where all the airnomads in training and their teachers eat was full at sun down. 

Linh entered the dining hall searching for Kyran, there were a lot of people, she didn't feel that comfortable at the sight and tried to calm her nerves by looking for Kyran and checking for exits at the same time. 

After getting herself a plate of food she spotted him, he waved at her, calling her over. 

He was sitting at a table with a plate full of vegetables, soup and rice, four other people sat together with him.  
Two girls their head shaven, one already possessing a blue arrow on her head.  
Across from them sat Kyran at his side sat two boys, only one of them still had their hair. 

She went over to him, once arrived at the table he started to introduce herself her to the other four.  
She took a seat next to the two girls across from Kyran, they ate their meals talked and laughed a bit with one another, eventually the others left and Kyran an Linh were one of the few still in the dining hall when they were told to get ready for bed. 

The dining hall was located within the southern tower, Kyran offered to walk with her until the central tower, she gladly took up the offer. 

They talked about what they had been show by Iio and Ayato, Kyran told her he was thrilled to learn some new things. He had always been interested in far off places. 

He seemed to already feel at home here, Linh felt somehow bad for reminding him that this was only temporary.  
He told her that he understood and just wanted to make the most of it. 

He saw the look in her face, one of guilt.  
"Don't be so down about it, I mean sure it won't be fun leaving this place in 4 months but will be traveling a lot and we'll leave a lot of places behind."  
He saw that the look on her face didn't change, Linh spoke, "It's not that it's just... You already look so at home here and you already made friends, and then there is Iio and her brother, they helped us, I just don't feel good not telling them and leaving them behind but I don't know how or if we should tell them what if that puts the---. "

" Linh, breathe" Kyran interrupt her. 

Linh stopped and she did breathe, "I just feel bad about lying to them, I know it was my idea but it still feels wrong to do." 

Linh looked at him. 

"What would you do?" 

"Wow....uhm wel that's a great question...."  
He was silent for a moment.  
"I guess, I would have done the same. I mean as the Avatar you stand for a lot of things, but most of all, you stand for balance. I believe that by lying to everyone right now you are protecting them to some degree, but I think there is a delicate balance between lying to protect people and protecting yourself."

She turned to him and he to her. 

" It's up to you to keep that balance."

\---------

Linh walked alone over the bridge between the central and northern tower, she had said her goodnight to Kyran at central after their conversation. 

It had given her alot to think about, she was greatfull for his opinion and she knew she had some thinking to do. 

It was then that she heard someone calling her name, infront of her a bit far away stood some with a lantern in hand, a woman. It was dark and she couldn't see the woman's face. The voice called her again, and just for a moment she thought it was her mother. 

Just for a moment her heart swelled up with...with what exactly? 

That moment past quickly and Linh soon recognized Iio standing there, the girl greeted her asking her why she looked so pale. 

Linh dismissed her concern by saying she just felt cold because of the altitude they were on. 

"It take some time to get used to it for most newcomers." Iio replied.   
"How are you settling in?" 

"Good, it's a beautiful place and until now everyone has been nice to me." 

"That's good to hear." Iio started to walk beside her and they made their way into the northern tower, heading towards Linh's room.   
"And what about your friend, Kyran was it?" 

"He makes friends wherever he goes, he already feels at home." Linh replied. 

"That's good to hear." Iio could sense there was a struggle within the girl. "and do you feel the same?" 

Linh looked at her, she lied to this girl who was not much older than her, she had already been named a master airbender. She didn't deserve to be lied to, so Linh told her the truth. 

"No, it's hard for me to feel at home in different places." 

"I see," they arrived at Linh's room, Iio turned to Linh putting a hand on her shoulders. "Well if you ever need someone to talk to, know that I am here." 

Linh made the effort to smile a little. "Thank you." 

At that Iio left and Linh stepped alone into her room, she would have trouble sleeping tonight


	7. Chapter 7

Linh knew it was a dream when she first awoke to the seen in front of her.

A girl, about 10 years old, long black hair, half put up in a bun secured by a headpiece, a golden flame adorned with red detailing, the mark of a crown princess.

Her bright golden eyes were trained on the target in front of her, a straw doll.   
Her teacher, an earthbender, appointed by the white lotus, corrected her firm with minor adjustments.  
Once satisfied with his work he spoke. 

"Now"

The girl struck the target with a spike made of dirt shot from underneath it's position.   
A smile came to her teachers face, he was satisfied. 

"Good, you're learning fast. This will be all for today."

The girl broke her stance and bowed to her master. She was filled with pride at his compliment. 

Linh didn't even need to know the memory to feel how she felt then, she could see it in her own eyes.

Then a little boy came running towards her, 8 years old she remembered him to be, the same eye and her color, they were copies of one another.   
He was followed by their mother, a tall lady with already greying hair and fierce brown eyes.  
She smiled at the sight of her children, and complimented her daughter on her training.

Linh was crying now, she missed them everyday. But it was not homesickness that made her cry, it was guilt.

The scene changed, the girl, boy and their mother were sitting at a table decked with food and joined by two other pieces of their family. 

The childrens father and uncle.

The father talked with his children, asked them about their studies and training. The children were passionately talking about both their accomplishments, trying to outbest the other.   
Their father had a smile on his, he seemed so happy in that moment.   
After their meal was done the parents of the children and their uncle prepared for their night time meeting and the kids were just about being sent to bed when the girl pleaded with her father to let her accompany them to the gathering.   
Using the phrase "If I were to become the Avatar one day... ", even her uncle seemed to support it. 

Linh wanted to yell at her younger self and plead with her father to sent her to bed. 

He didn't, the young girl successfully persuaded her father and was off to the meeting under the jealous glare of her younger brother. 

She didn't want to see this, Linh knew what was coming, she didn't want to see it but her own mind made her. 

The young girl had attended the meeting, sitting silent and obedient next to her uncle until. Observing and learning from the grown ups, from her father, the fire lord, her mother, the head commander of the United foces navy and her uncle, her father's advisor and ambassador to the other nations. 

After leaving the meeting room together with her parents her father realized he had left a few documents in there. His daughter told him she would get them for him, telling them she would be able to practice her airball riding now that everyone else was gone, her parents were okay with this but warned her to be safe, not many people knew about the fire nation princess being the new avatar.

They should never have been worried about that. 

The girl arrived back at the door to the meeting room, it was left open just a bit, enough for the young girl to hear voices coming from inside the room. 

She recognized one of the voices as her uncle's, she quietly watched through the crack in the door. 

He was talking to a woman dressed in a black suit, Linh remembered her, she had brown hair and Grey eyes, like metal, her skin about to shades darker than her own. She was the most terrifying person Linh had ever seen. Her words would resonate in her head for years to come; "everything is going smoothly, all we need is kill off your brother and his family and the throne is yours for the taking." 

Her uncle responded. 

"We'll need to keep my niece alive, she can become the key for me to win both the public and the white lotus over and secure my throne for me." 

The young girl didn't understand the words her uncle spoke, kill her family, her little baby brother, her strong mother and caring father? He couldn't? He wasn't talking about them how could he? She need to tell him he was wrong, he would never do that, that lady was lying, she was lying to him. 

The girl opened the door of the meeting room, somehow surprising both the man an woman.   
The girl looked at her uncle.

"She lying, isn't she?" 

Her uncle recovered, and walked over to his young niece, putting a hand on her shoulder.   
"She's not." 

"Wha--" 

"She is not lying, she and her men will kill your father, mother and brother." 

The girl became even paler than usual, her eyes started to water, she became scared.   
Her uncle continued. 

"She will kill them unless you keep this whole thing between just the two of us." her uncle looked at her, his expression was blank. "Can you do that for me, for your family." 

The girl looked from her uncle to the woman, her gaze was like sharp steel, she had unsheeted a small dagger from her belt. The girl felt fear and confusion, but through it all she nodded at her uncle, the woman, on her uncle's signal, put away her dagger. And her uncle took some documents from a table and gave then to his niece and reminded her of their little secret and told her to go run back to her parents and make sure nothing was wrong. 

The girl did everything she was told and for two years she didn't say a word. 

\------------

The scenery changed once again in front of Linh's eyes. 

She was in a gorgeous dininghall, nobles from all over the world were present, it was a celebration. 

The 10th birthday of prince Azim.

It was a grand celebration, everybody seemed happy.   
The young firenation princess was not, after today her family would go on a trip to Ember Island, were they would suffer an unfortunate accident from which only one would survive, her. 

She had heard it directly from her uncle, granted he hadn't known she was eaves dropping on him.   
The last two years had been hell for her, she had been scared the first half a year and had distensed herself from her parents and brother. The next one and a half year had been filled with rage and revenge, she had started to throw herself at her studies and training as the Avatar, all her free time she spend researching her uncle's plans and what they were. Her family was concerned but they didn't really think that much of it, the realization of being the Avatar had probably just hit her. They offered to help but she had declined them, so they gave her all the space she needed. 

In those two years the girl had learned, she at first was afraid of going to another meeting with her parents but eventually faced her fear and started to attend again. She watched her uncle closely and studied him, for all he knew she was just trying to act like nothing ever happened.

Linh remembered her brothers birthday, she remembered the smile on his face as he greeted his guests, especially when a certain minister's daughter gave him a small wave. She remembered smirking at him and his face going red. 

After the celebration had ended and everyone had gone off to sleep, the girl stepped out of her bedroom and with noting more than a bag filled with an old book a dagger, a bit of money and a photograph, her hairpin still on her head.   
She silently made her way through the castle that was her home, there was no alarm nor people telling her to stop. It had been to easy she would later realize. 

Outside the castle she made her way to the city gates from there down the path to the harbor.   
She had checked again and again, and she was sure, right after midnight a ship would be headed to republic city and she would be a stowaway in that ship.

Before entering the ship she kneeled between a few crates, close by the water. She took out her dagger looked at the inscription on it and started to cut of her hair, she bound it together but put her hairpin in her bag and dropped her bundled of hair in the firenation capitol harbor and left on a boat headed to Republic city. 

"Never give up without a fight." she would whisper trying to convince herself she was doing the right thing. 

\-----------

Later the following day search parties were sent out to look for the lost princess. There was only one thing found, a bundle of hair drifting in the harbor with it a note directed at the firelord from the leader of the avatars disciples, it was found by adviser Bozai brother to the fire lord. 

\----—--------

It was then that Linh awoke from her dream.   
Her face wet and her room full of moonlight.   
She got out of bed, and started to do al the different movements and stances she had learned over the years without actually bending anything. 

She only need someone to teach her how to feel the elements again, she wanted to feel powerful, powerful enough to face the whole world if she had to, to protect the ones she loves, to not feel scared any more. 

'Never give up without a fight.'


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unlock the Chakra

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave feedback

It was early in the morning when Linh's first class started. Iio taught meditation and spirituality and also trained the next generation of aibenders, now she was teaching a small class, that Kyran and Linh were both a part of, about meditation and finding your center.

Linh sat two seats behind Kyran and three seats away from where Iio sat facing her class.  
Linh did everything Iio told her to do, close her eyes, keeping her breathing steady and at a relaxed pace, feeling the air around her and focusing on her center. Even though she didn't really get what her center should be, she still tried and failed to complety get it. 

That was probably why she was told by Iio to come and visit her later at her small office in the central building. 

Once there Iio told Linh to follow her. 

They walked away from the main three buildings and followed a beaten path to a small clearing where a cirkel of tall stones stood, there was a waterfall nearby that had created a stream that lead to the stone cirkel making a few pools in the middle of it. 

"Alright, you go and sit over there." Iio pointed to a spot close by the pools.  
Linh went to sit and Iio sat at the other side of the pools across from her. 

Linh finally decided to still her curiosity and ask Iio.  
"Sooo, Why are we here exactly???" 

Iio almost seem to laugh, "We are a one of the more spiritually connected place on the island." 

Her face became more serious, her eyes were looking directly at Linh. "I saw you had some trouble this morning during the meditation session, I thought it might help you to be here with me to give you extra lessons."  
Linh tried to look at Iio but found her gaze wandering everywhere but near her. She didn't deserve her help but she did need it. 

"Thank you."

Iio looked sadly at her, she was disappointed to know that she still didn't come trough to the girl.  
Iio sighed and continued.  
"I think you already know but let me tell you about chakra's." Linh knew all about chakras, they were a method to learning and controlling the Avatar state. She had learned about it from her teachers back when she still lived with her family, and later read more about it in the Republic city library. Linh had attempted to try and unlock them on her own but it was in vain, every time she tried, she blocked herself from unlocking her chakras. Iio pointed at the pools in front of her. "Chakras are a series of points throughout the body where chi energy is heavily concentrated. There are seven chakras in total, all located on you spine. That's the scientific approach to it anyway." she added with a bit of contempt, Iio continued pointing at the stream which fueled the pools with water. "But as I, and the other airbenders see it, chi is like water that flows to a creek, but instead than flowing thru a creek it flows thru our bodies." she pointed at the pools. " You see these pools there is water that swirls around before flowing on, these pools resemble our chakras. We usually teach this to our more advanced classes as it will help with finding balance within ourselves, but I think it'll help you more if you learn right now. " Linh felt like Iio knew, and maybe she did in a way know why she needed to teach Linh more than the others. It had felt different hearing someone explaining it to her and be there with her and helping her, maybe it shouldn't have been as different than when she got her lessons from the white lotus when she was young. It shouldn't have, but it did. It all started to feel real. \--- After explaining and answering all of the questions Linh had, which were not much. They continued with trying to unlock the chakras. "There are seven chakras, they need to be unlocked in a specific order to achieve balance within yourself, so we'll start with the first one. Take your meditation position and try to relax." Linh did as she was told and sat cross legged, her hands balled into fist pressed together. Iio mirrored her pose." Now close your eyes and steady your breathing, just like the lessons."

Linh took a deep breath and with it she let her muscles relax. She knew she wasn't really ready for what was coming but she felt like she was.

Iio voice sounded distant but soothing.   
" Now we will start with the earth chakra located at the base of the spine, it deals with survival and is blocked by fear. What do you fear the most?"

Linh saw it clearly in her minds eye.  
Her family killed by the steel eyed woman working with her uncle, Kyran locked in a cell. She saw herself kneeling infront of Zhangs grave, unable to see him once more.

" Let the fear flow out of you, you may be scared of what will happen but that doesn't mean it will be inevitable."

Iio was right, Linh knew, she would protect them all. She wouldn't let anyone die while she was around.  
She felt herself relax again and a tension in her spine dissappeared. She felt better, lighter.

She opend her eyes, Iio looked at her with a proud smile on her face it felt good to see that, encouraging. 

"Do you feel better." 

"Much." 

And so it went on. 

\----------------

"The water chakra is next, it's located in the sacrum and deals with pleasure and is blocked by guilt. What do you blame yourself for the most?" 

For the burden Azim now has to carry, for the grief her family must go trough. For the death of Xin. 

"Let it go, for guilt must not interfere with future happiness."

Linh found this one more difficult but she knew that eventually she would see her family again, she would be able to hold them again. And she knew Xin's death wasn't her fault, it's her uncle's for manipulating this whole mess and creating a conflict which resulted in Xin's death. She would do right by her, she promised, and became filled with determination. Linh felt everything open up and flow once again.

\------------

"The fire chakra is located in the stomach, it deals with willpower and is blocked by shame. What are you ashamed of and why are you so disappointed in yourself for?" 

Her lies. She had lied and was still lying to her family, fist about her uncle and then about her own dissappearens. She had lied to Zhang and Xin and Kyran and continued to do so. She was lying to Iio who is trying to help her. 

" Let it go. You cannot blame yourself for things that are necessary to do, you must be able to accept that you'll need to do what it takes if it means making the right decision." Iio said in a meaningful voice. 

Linh found herself crying tears of frustration.   
She knew that by lying it kept them all safe, but the feeling of shutting everybody out had taken it's toll. She knew it was for the greater good, she knew. And she accepted that she had to push through and get to where she wanted to be. 

Her tears dried and her mind calmed again. 

\--------------

"The air chakra is located in the heart and deals with love and is blocked by grief. Who do you miss the most?" 

Her mother and father. They had been everything to her together with her brother. They may not have died but being forced to separate from them had been hard to do. 

Linh spoke. 

" My mother and father. "

Iio was surprised but grateful the girl finally started talking to her. 

" Love is a strange thing that comes in many forms. But it is an ever flowing energy of old love becoming new love." 

In her minds eye Linh saw it. Her old family became her new one. Xin and Zhang stood proudly before her, their warmth radiating off of them, she could feel their love. Behind the stood Kyran, she considered him her best friend, if not her brother. She knew their love would always be there. "

Linh opened her eyes, which were full of tears, her hand was on her heart and it felt like she had been cleansed. Iio saw Linh for who she was in that moment, she saw what Linh really was on the inside. Broken but not shatters. 

" Do you want to go on?" 

Linh dried her happy tears and took a deep breath. She laughed a bit at herself and smiled at Iio. She had broken down one of her walls. 

" Yes." 

\----------------

"The sound chakra lies in the throat and deals with truth which is blocked by lies. What did you lie about to yourself " 

Linh knew it wasn't smart to talk about who she is but she felt safe with Iio, safe enough to tell the truth. 

" Who I really am." 

Iio had a worried look on her face. Not that Linh knew, having her eyes closed and all.

" We cannot hide our true nature and we must accept our destiny." 

Linh opens her eyes, she knew she needed to unlock this chakra but she blocked herself. 

" But I never wanted this, I never wanted any of it, Why does it have to be me." 

Iio spoke solemnly," Linh, I know that we don't ask to be born as certain people but we must accept that our heritage is part of who we are meant to become. Try again, close your eyes and breathe. "

Linh did as instructed. 

She knew she had to accept her role as the Avatar and as part of the firenation royal family. She never hated her destiny before she found out about her uncle's betrayal. So she let go, she went back to those days where she didn't care about alot of things but getting her teacher's approavel and her family's love. 

\---------------

"The light chakra is located in the forehead, it deals with insight and is blocked by illusions. The greatest illusion of all is that of separation." 

Linh continued, "As is the illusion of separation between the four nations and elements." 

Iio agreed, "We are a collective, we need each other to survive, even the separation between our world and the spirit world is but an illusion."

"But the portals are closed and the only one that can go to the spirit world is the Ava-" 

"Even if you can't see them it doesn't mean that energy from their world can't flow through ours. We are all connected through that energy, call it magic or science, you of all people need to understand that there are no boundaries that are strong enough to separate us."

Linh knew, and so she unlocked her chakra. 

\------------

" The final chakra is the Thought chakra which is located at the head of the crown. It deals wit pure cosmic energy and is blocked by earthly attachment. What binds you the most to this earth?"

She herself was what bound Linh most to this earth. Her own pain and suffering. Her mistakes and shame. Her determination and love. Her happiness and pride.   
The whole unlocking of chakras were a testament to that. Linh did not want to lose herself admit all the lies and titles. 

"Now let those attachments go, for they are not forgotten but set free." 

Linh needed to set herself free. 

She felt like she was being lifted from the ground and opened her eyes. She was above the world in the night sky, a bridge of light formed underneath her bare feet. She lloked along the shining bridge and saw herself, only she was ten times as big and her whole being was almost as dark as the night sky, but her eyes shone with a withe light like two giant stars. Her bigger copy seemed to hold a globe of moving water of smoke in her hands, the bride lead right to it. 

Linh walked to the globe and moved to stand in it she again closed her eyes and felt a wave of calmness overcome her as she let go of herself. Setting herself free. She felt the flow of energy go through her entire body. 

She felt every thing at once, the air, the water, the earth, the fire. 

\---------

Iio saw as Linh's eyes opened and began to glow.   
She knew the girl was special but Linh being the Avatar was completely something else, not that she didn't think it was a possibility. 

Linh's eyes kept glowing, air, water, earth and fire floated around her in rings. 

And then it stopped, Linh's eyes became normal and she looked at Iio. 

"Please don't tell anyone."


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Linh is a Mary Sue

Three months had past since Azim's talk with Mayor Rei.

He had left Republic city behind about a month after their conversation, Azim had traveled to Ba Sing Se by car and had visited many villages along the way gaining some popularity with the earth Kingdom citizens, but more often than not he was met with riots of people opposing his rule. Azim did not blame them, most of the old fire nation colonies that were located within earth Kingdom borders were still under fire nation rule, even if they technically belonged to the also recently crowned earth queen.  
And was only the least of his problems, Rei had given him a job and he intended to do it. A message had been sent to the head of Azim's personal undercover guard, the Katsuro, they had been tasked to sent their best to infiltrate the Avatar's disciples. He finally had a reason to do so, his uncle had kept him from taking action but now that the mayor of Republic city had asked for his help he ofcourse was so gracious enough to lend him his aid. 

Azim looked outside the window of his personal car, the giant walls of Ba Sing Se doomed up before his very eyes. He had never seen it in person, but he had heard stories most of them from his family and some of his sister's old teacher. His sister who was supposed to be wearing this crown. He was only young when she had dissappeared, it had been discovered the day after he had turned 10. He remembered her vibrant golden eyes and and her long shining obsidian hair, but most of all he remembered her playful nudges and teasing jokes. They had been close as children but something had changed a few years before she was gone from his life, she didn't play with him that much anymore and her smiles became a rare phenomenon. He used to think that she had left because didn't like playing with him anymore, he had told his mother so but she immediately told him that none of this was his fault and that his sister would always love him and would have never abandoned him.

When he became old enough to learn the truth about her dissappearens he had felt rage. She had been kidnapped, presumably killed by the Avatar's disciples, she who was the one they should have followed. It felt like the world was playing a cruel trick on them. His family griefed for their lost daughter, sister and niece.  
The only thing the public knew was that the princess had been kidnapped and killed by an unknown group of extremists, it was a miracle nobody had connected the dots yet. The nation too, griefed for their lost princess, the rest of the world offered their condolences, they might not like the fire nation but the world knows the grief of losing a child. 

\---------------------

Almost three months had past since Linh and Kyran had arrived at the Eastern airtemple. Their training had almost been complete, or at least Linh's training had.  
After she had unlocked her chakras Iio and her had a very long talk about Linh being the Avatar and lying to her and her brother. When Iio had dropped Linh off at her room Linh had asked her to keep quiet about it, Iio had agreed to do so only on the condition that she was to be her only teacher and that she would be taught one on one by Iio herself. 

"Because who wouldn't want to call herself the person who made the Avatar a master Airbender." 

\---------------

So it went on for months. 

Linh grew under the teachings of Iio, she not only learned to master airbending within those three months, she got the feeling for bending back again. She felt connected to the air swirling around her, the wind pushing the clouds above her and the air streaming into her lungs.  
She also grew closer with Iio, it felt like she had made a friend, a sister. They talked about lots of things when they took their short breaks. Mostly about what they liked or disliked or about experiences they had had.  
Iio usually came with the more exciting tales. 

It was than, after those three months, that Linh and Kyran had to leave. Linh had become a master Airbender, as declared by her very proud shifu Iio the day before. 

Only Iio was there to say goodbye to them, she hadn't told her brother about Linh's true identity, but she didn't feel to bad about it. They had traveled all the way down to the docks where different ships, from cargo ships to late night passenger ships, would drop their ankers.  
It was such a passenger ship that Linh and Kyran would take to get to the Northern water tribe, with a small stop in the earth kingdom. 

Linh had asked Kyran if he wouldn't rather want to stay at the airtemple but again he refused to be left behind.  
She had asked about the friends he had made here and what would happen to them. He said that if they ever found out that he traveled with the Avatar they'd understand why he had left. He was much more excited to see what the north looked like. 

"So I guess this is it, huh." Linh said awkwardly, she wasn't that good with goodbyes.  
Iio was much better at them and hugged her dear friend immediately, "Just.... Take care of yourself and look out for one another okay?"  
Linh responded by hugging her back and saying.  
"I-I will, thank you for everything you've done."

They let go of each other and Iio turned towards Kyran. "You look after yourself okay? My brother likes you alot and I want you to come and take him away when he is being annoying." 

"I'm gonna miss you too Iio." they hugged, Kyran having a noticeable blush on his cheeks from Iio's comment about her brother.  
"Just tell Ayato that I'm sorry I had to leave and I'm sure we'll meet again if it was meant to be." 

"I will, I'll also tell the others that you guys have family matters you need to attend to, even though you told everyone you didn't have any direct family anymore, I'll think my way out of that one, don't worry." 

Linh wanted to say so much more to her teacher, she had been more help than they could have ever imagined. Iio reached for something in her pocket," I wanted to give you this. " she pulled out a letter, an official seal of approval was placed on it. "I don't know alot of waterbending masters but I do know a master earthbender, he's a good friend of my mother. Take his letter and give it to him directly, he'll know it's okay to take you and Kyran on as apprentices."

Linh saw Kyran's face light up with surprise, he was going to become a master earthbender after all these years. Linh took Iio's letter and put it in the bag with all her other belongings.  
" Iio, I don't know how to thank you for everything. I just-" 

" Linh, the only thing I could ever want in return is for you to become the master of all four elements and the bridge between this world and that of the spirits, oh! that reminds me. You should visit the swamp in the earth kingdom, it's a place some say connects directly to the spirit world, it may be worth checki-"  
Iio was tackled by Linh with a hug.   
" Iio, I'm so grateful to you, I promise that when you next see me I've become the Avatar. "

Linh let go of Iio and saw she had tears in her eyes, her voice was hoarse when she spoke. 

" You already are. "

Linh was sad to leave her shifu and friend but she knew it was necessary. They left Iio at the docks and boarded their ship, setting sail for the northern water tribe. 


	10. Chapter 10

Junan looked at the sea through the small window in his hut aboard a ship heading towards the serpents pass. If his Intel was correct, and it always was, the girl and her friend should be aboard this ship.  
He was determined to find them and hand them off at their stop in the earth kingdom, he had already contacted the leader, so making mistakes wasn't an option.  
He didn't exactly know why they needed this girl in particular but he knew he would be rewarded handsomely. 

\------------

Kyran woke up sick, so early in the morning Linh stood on the deck of the ship they had boarded. Kyran stood bend over the railing puking his guts out, Linh stood there rubbing his back and murmuring soothing words in an effort to be supportive. 

He didn't have any problem riding the airship, but maybe he had eaten something wrong? She thought.  
That's when she noticed a stranger walking their way, a lanky guy, around her own age, Dark brown hair, sun kissed skin and friendly grey eyes.  
He stopped a few steps away from the pair, he pointed at Kyran. 

"Ruff night I guess." 

Linh turned stone faced, "If by ruff night you mean he drank, you're mistaken. He doesn't really like boats or he ate something bad."  
She went back to rubbing Kyran's back who started to insist on him being okay now between pukes. 

The guy looked sheepishly at her, "O-Okay, um....well if you want I could give you some medicine."  
He saw how the girl looked at him, as if he had offered poison to heal a wound.  
"Against the puking I mean, it should calm his stomach." 

The girl held his gaze, her eyes were a blazing yellow, like gold-no like fire. He was so distracted he didn't hear the girls reaction the first time.  
"I'm sorry, come again?" 

The girl looked irritated, " I said, thanks, for helping me with my friend." the guy's face softened a bit.

"No problem, I'll just go get it from my cabin then, just wait here." he made the motion to go but was stopped by the girls voice.

"What's your name?" Her face had a more curious look on it now. He didn't really feel like telling her, but to gain her trust he needed to be honest. For the most part. 

"Junan, what's yours?"

The girl out her hand for him to shake, "I'm Linh."  
They shook hands, the girl, Linh, pointed over her shoulder. "And the guy barfing his guts out over there is Kyran." The guy wave a bit with his hand a rumbled hallo coming out of his mouth.

\------------

That night Junan found them both again on deck they were looking out at sea, the guy, Kyran looked alot better. 

Linh had spotted him, as she wasn't looking at the sea but leaned against the railing, she seemed to be inspecting the deck and the passengers on it. He shot her a quick wave and made his way over to them. 

"Thanks for helping me out this morning man, I feel like a whole new person because of it." Kyran offered him a hand, Junan took it.

"No problem at all, just thought I could help out."

"So you're heading to the earth kingdom?" It was Linh who spoke. This was more of an interrogation than an interest in him as a person.

"Actually I'm heading towards the northern water tribe, what about you guys?"

He noticed the silent conversation between them, it was left to the girl how much she wanted to tell.  
"We're also heading for the northern water tribe, quite a coincidence don't you think? "  
Was she on to him? No, it couldn't be. Maybe she was u trusting by nature, who knows who knows who this girl really was but he had to play along, he couldn't let his mask drop.

" A coincidence indeed, well it's very lucky for me to have others I can travel with, well that's of course if you guys don't mind."

Again there was a silent conversation, this time it was up to Kyran to take the wheel. "Of course we'd love it if you'd travel with us. Three is better than two, am I right?"

"That settles it than, I look forward to spending time with you guys."

Kyran looked amused, "No need to be so formal with us." Junan had this guy in the bag, the problem was the girl, she may seemed a bit more relaxed now with her friend and him becoming chummy but Junan wasn't fooled, she wouldn't go down easily.

\--------------------

For the rest of the two weeks on that boat Linh and Kyran were often joined by Junan. They talked about alot of things. Junan found out that they were head to the northern water trinbe to learn waterbending or at least Linh was, Kyran was with her because he felt like leaving home and learning about the world. He had taken a liking to Kyran, he reminded him of his younger self even if they are the same age.  
Linh hadn't talked as much as Kyran, but from what he could gather she judged someone more by their actions than their words. 

At least, he assumed she was.  
Junan knew there needed to be something more to this girl if the leader wanted her delivered on his doorstep and he was determined to find out what it was. 

Junan may have found some things out about Kyran and Linh but they also found a few things out about Junan. Like that he was an Airbender, that he was born in the earthkingdom and that he was headed to the northern water tribe to visit his family who moved there, apparently his grandfather was water tribe and his uncle aunt and cousins were waterbenders.  
They had become a it less suspicious of Junan, enough so that they felt safe talking to him

They finally arrived at the serpents pass, their boat stopped only a hour away from the actual pass. The sea serpents living in the waters around the pass were very territorial and the companies sending their boats through this area didn't want to take the risk of sinking them.

Kyran almost cried when he put his feet on solid ground, "I feel like myself again." 

"Wow, that's a bit much don't you think?" Linh asked jokingly.  
Kyran feigned hurt, "My dear friend when have I ever been too much for you."  
Linh laughed. 

Junan found that laugh freeing somehow, he needed to stop paying attention to this girl, even if it was his job to make her trust him. His target was her, she had invaded his mind slowly but surely. Well not slowly, it hadn't even been three weeks since they first met.  
He needed to finish this job quickly, he just wanted to go back and be with his squadron again, his friends. 

He joined Kyran and Linh, "Soooo, you guys are heading directly to the other side of the pass?"  
Kyran spoke up, "Yeah, we're probably going to wait there for the next ship to going to the northern water tribe, you wanna come with?"

Perfect, he would lead them to the other side via a abandoned road, there noone would hear it if he snuck up on Kyran and Linh knocking them unconscious and taking Linh to one of the groups safe houses where his associates were.

" Yeah of course. "

\-------------

Linh didn't really know what to make of this guy, Junan.  
He was nice to them and the medicine he had given Kyran didn't turn out to be poison, which was a plus.  
But something, in the back of her mind kept nagging her about him, he just felt like trouble. Maybe it was her paranoia talking but he seemed to be staring at her quite a lot.  
But most of all she noticed his change in demeanor when they asked him to tag along with them to the other side of the pass. It didn't feel right and she whispered to Kyran as much. He just told her they would be super vigilant and nothing would happen, so much for his support.

\--------------

The sun was high in the sky and there were no clouds in sight. Perfect for an ambush from above, wich was the exact idea this particular group of thiefs and robbers had in mind when they spotted a small group of three people walking over the old mountain road. 

They had almost made it to the part of the road where he knew a tree stood with enough shade for the tree of them, that would be where he'd strike, just a few more feet and Junan would be golden.  
That was if it hadn't been for those robbers who dropped from the sky on their flying bison.

There were four of them, three jumped of the magnificent beast to face Linh, Kyran and Junan.  
Junan who had recognized his old friends from the slums in an instant. 

The tallest othe three spoke  
"Give us all your belongings and we'll be well on our w-." he stopped and looked at Junan, "Well if it isn't our old buddy pal Junan, how's life treating ya?" 

Junan didn't let them get to him, "Well...ha....uh, you know me, just living." 

Linh knew she was right all along about him

The tall guy spoke again, "I vary sorry to ask you old friend but please give over all your possessions and that'll be that." 

Noway in hell am I going to give them anything, Junan thought.  
Linh thought about the same thing but a bit more like; if they found a hair piece belonging to the fire nation royal family in her bag, along with all the notes and diary entries she's made she would be kinda screwed to say the least.  
Kyran just thought that he liked being alive. 

"Not gonna happen." Linh snapped.

"Then I guess we'll have to do this the hard way." another one of them said, he fired a ball of fire towards Linh who on instinct disspearsed it with a few simple motions of her arms, remembering her firebending basics. 

Junan was surprised, it seemed she had lied to him about wanting to learn waterbending. 'Why did that sting?' He wondered. 

His mind was drawn back to the fight as Kyran straight up send one of the robbers flying with a rock to the face. 

Junan took care of the last one by lifting the poor guy up from the ground and dropping him on his head.  
They probably didn't expect to face three capable benders. 

Linh was still busy with the first guy, she had resorted to firebending which meant she couldn't switch without making her identity known, she was very glad then, that Kyran too almost smashed the guy's skull in by firing another stone while he was distracted by her. 

That left the guy on the bison, he had gotten off and was now dueling Jujan in hand to hand combat. He didn't seem to be a bender which became evident when he struck a few small blows on Juan's shoulder. His arm went limp, a chiblocker. He pushed the guy away with air, creating as much space as possible between them.  
But before either of them could make a move, another blast of air hit the chiblocker and he flew a few feet in the air before hitting the ground with a sickening crack. 

Junan looked in the direction from where the wind blast had come from. All he could see was Linh standing there her pose stuck in her move made to create such a blast, Junan recognized it. It clicked for him right than and there, why the leader wanted her, why he was sent to retrieve her. 

"You're the Av-" 

"Stop." Linh looked like she was about to puke. "We are not doing this, not right now. We need to leave before they wake up, if the-" she looked at the guy she had thrown in the are, the sound of the crack was still in her head. "We need to go." 

The bison stayed put while they ran past it, seemingly enjoying the midday sun. 

\---------------

They made it to the other side of the serpents pass, their boat was already waiting for them and they boarded immediately.  
They took one cabin for the three of them, once inside Linh and Kyran sat on their respective bunk beds while Junan paced around the small room. 

He stopped and looked at Linh, "So you're the Avatar?"

"Yeah." She seemed somewhat ashamed or even afraid.

"I can't believe this." Junan dropped down across from her, on his own bunk bed.

"That's our line," It was Kyran. "Those bandits back there knew who you were, you have been lying to us too haven't you?"

Junan needed to think, in this situation the only thing he could do was tell the truth. 

He hung his head in shame, "Yeah, I've been lying to you guys, I was young and stupid. I got mixed in with the wrong crowd."

"So you have no family in the northern water tribe?" Linh looked at him, a sad look on her face.  
How could he lie to her when she looked at him like that. 

"No, I have no family left to be honest just a deadbeat mother who left me when my dad past away." it was the truth, maybe not the full truth but a big part of it.

Linh sighed, "Kyran," Kyran looked down at her from his bunk top bunk, "you know how I told you I couldn't tell you why I decided to leave." Kyran went to sit next to her on the bottom bunk, "Yeah I remember." there was a reassuring smile on his face. Linh turned to Junan, "You haven't been honest with us and we haven't been honest with you. I think it's time that I start being honest with you guys and myself." Kyran put a hand on linh's shoulder, it's okay, he is there. "take your time." he whispered. She really didn't think this through, how could she tell the truth to not only Kyran but an almost complete stranger who had lied to her. Iio really had softened her. She took a deep breath, a far away look was in her eyes when she spoke. 

"I was born as the daughter of fire lord Kaze and his wife Mira, when I was five years old they discovered I was the Avatar, after that I was kept within the royal palace at all times. I began my training when I was six and for a while it all went great." She took a deep breath, her hands were shaking. " When I was ten I found out the truth, my uncle was planning to murder my family and take the throne. He let me live on the condition that I keep my mouth shut or else he'd kill my family. For two years I lived with that knowledge as a child. After my brothers tenth birthday I fled the palace and as a stowaway on a ship made it to Republic city, where I came under apprenticeship of two craftsmen." She looked at Kyran, his face had gone pale, his eyes wide with shock." That's when I met you, Kyran and that's when I started to plot my revenge, to become the Avatar and unmask my uncle for what he really is." \------------ When she was done with her story she saw their faces, they couldn't believe it. She reached inside her bag and took out a hair piece, made of golden flames with red decorations, the mark of the crown princess. " My father gave it to me when I became ten, he told me that I would become great one day." She could see the gears turning in their heads. Kyran's were faster than Junan's. "So you're saying you're THE princess Azra of the fire nation?" She nodded her head absent-mindedly running her thumb over the headpiece. "I know it sounds crazy. You guys are the only ones I told this to but please believe me, it's all true." she looked at them with a pleading look. Junan spoke, "Than I guess we're gonna need to call you 'your highness' from now on." a small smile played on his lips and somehow that made her feel a bit better about telling them.


End file.
